V 


BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MIS  SIONS 

Of  t*i  *2 

Pkk«  uvriiKLix  Church  inthkESA.: 

130  Fifth  Awrmo 

^  V«>K  K 


THE  PERSONNEL  OF  THE  BOARD 


The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Pres¬ 
byterian  Church  in  the  U,  S.  A.  Is  Com¬ 
posed  of 

Twelve  Ministers  and  Eleven  Laymen 

1884  Rev.  George  Alexander,  D.D., 

1898  Rev.  John  F.  Patterson,  D.D., 

1902  Rev.  J.  Ross  Stevenson,  D.D., 

1903  Rev.  Eben  B.  Cobb,  D.D., 

1904  Rev.  Cleland  B.  McAfee,  D.D., 

1906  Rev.  Charles  R.  Erdman,  D.D., 

1907  Rev.  John  McDowell,  D.D., 

1911  Rev.  J.  H.  Jowett,  D.D., 

1912  Rev.  Wm.  P.  Merrill,  D.D., 

1913  Rev.  Chas.  C.  Albertson,  D.D., 

1917  Rev.  Wm.  Y.  Chapman,  D.D., 

1917  Rev.  Robert  G.  MacGregor,  D.D., 

1890  Mr.  D.  W.  McWilliams, 

1894  Mr.  John  T.  Underwood, 

1897  William  E.  Stiger,  Esq., 

1897  Mr.  John  Stewart, 

1897  Mr.  W.  P.  Stevenson, 

1898  Mr.  Scott  Foster, 

1908  Mr.  James  M.  Speers, 

1908  Mr.  Alfred  E.  Marling, 

1913  Mr.  John  L.  Severance, 

1914  *Mr.  Henry  W.  Hodge, 

1916  Mr.  Edwin  M.  Bulkley. 


*  In  War  Service — Col.  Henry  W.  Hodge.  W  ith 
Pershing’s  army  as  head  of  bridge  construction  Some¬ 
where  in  France”. 


THE  SUM 


At  the  beginning  of  the  fiscal  year  April 
1,  1917,  the  Budget  of  the  Foreign 
Board  for  all  purposes — Missionaries’ 
salaries,  children’s  allowances,  fur¬ 
lough  expenses;  evangelistic,  educa¬ 
tional  and  medical  work  on  the  field; 
home  administration  expenses;  new 
property;  emergency  health  fund;  ad¬ 
ditional  home  allowance,  and  a  small 
deficit  from  the  preceding  year, 
amounted  to . $2,143,508 

Added  emergency  items .  142,705 

Added  for  special  objects .  488,021 

Total  $2,774,234 

.  .1 


THE  SUBSTANCE 


Received  from  Churches  . $1,104,647 

Sunday-schools  .  100,445 

Women’s  Boards  .  625,985 

Y.  P.  Societies .  70,135 

Individuals  .  490,094 

Legacies  .  214,815 

Income  securities  . .  ..  . .  132,014 

Other  Credits  .  41,384 


Total  $2,779,519 


The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 
gave  to  Foreign  Missions,  1917-18 

$2,779,519 


The  Presbyterian  Church  on  the  Foreign 
Field  gave  to  the  church  expenses,  edu¬ 
cational,  medical  and  other  work 

$850,163 

The  cost  at  home  of  administering  this  great 

work  was 

LESS  THAN  SEVEN  PER  CENT. 

3 


THE  SUM 


Responsibility  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
U.  $.  A. 

100,000,000  SOULS 


The  oversight  for  the 


year  1918-19  of . 

166 

3598 

Stations  and 
Outstations 

The  Pastoral  Care 
of  . 

4267 

Churches 

Groups 

and 

The  Healing  of  Pa¬ 
tients  in  . 

175 

Hospitals 

and 

Dispensaries 

The  teaching  of  Pupils 
in  . 2062 

Schools  of 

all 

grades  from 
kindergar  ten 
to  University 

Instruction  in  the 

Bible  in . 3434  Sunday-schools 


The  publication  of 
religious  and  edu¬ 
cational  material 
at  . 


11  Great  Mission 
Presses  in 
Africa,  China. 
Mexico,  Siam. 
Persia,  Guate¬ 
mala,  Philip¬ 
pines  and  Syria 


4 


THE  SUBSTANCE 


Already  evangelized,  as  reported  for  year 
ending  March  31,  1918 

672,070  SOULS 

Stations  and  outstations  are 
manned  by  American  Mission¬ 
aries  .  1,366 

Native  Helpers  .  6,870 

Communicant  members  of 
churches  .  172,335 

Catechumens  and  Adherents .  499,735 

Patients  treated  in  Hospitals  and 
Dispensaries  .  704,714 

Pupils  in  secular  schools .  77,668 

Pupils  in  Sunday-schools  .  252,468 

Output  of  the  Mission  Presses 
(pages)  . 95,740,420 


5 


THE  SUM 


In  the  estimated  division  of  the  receipts  of 
the  year  1917-1918  (detailed  statement 
will  be  issued  later)  it  was  found  that  of 
the 

$2,779,519 

$500,000  was  used  for  evangelistic  and 
educational  work — 

50,000  for  medical  work,  which  in  some 
Missions  is  entirely  self-support¬ 
ing  and  in  others  nearly  so,  ex¬ 
clusive  of  the  missionary  phy¬ 
sician’s  salary — • 

500,000  for  new  property  equipment. 

These  items  are  for  what  is  known  as 
the  “Native  Work”  of  the  Board  and  do 
not  include  the  items  for  Missionary  sal¬ 
aries,  children’s  allowances,  furlough  ex¬ 
penses  (travel,  freight  and  home  allow¬ 
ances),  administrative  expenses,  special 
health  allowances  for  missionaries,  etc., 
etc.,  which  comprise  '  the  balance  of  the 
entire  budget  of  the  year. 


0 


THE  SUBSTANCE 


Contributed  by  the  constituency  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  16  Foreign  coun¬ 
tries,  and  as  a  plus  to  the  amounts  noted 
on  the  opposite  page,  constituting  what  is 
known  by  the  Board  as  “Amounts  raised 
on  the  Field”: 

$850,163 

For  Church  and  Congregational  ex¬ 
penses  . $126,982 

For  Home  and  Foreign  Missions..  15,666 


For  buildings  and  repairs .  58,694 

For  Education  .  454,288 

For  medical  work  .  176,664 

Miscellaneous  .  17,869 


“AND  WHAT  SHALL  WE  MORE  SAY?” 

For  the  time  would  fail  ns  to  tell  of  the 
mighty  work  being  accomplished  by  the 
modern  Gideons,  Samsons  and  Davids,  who 
“through  faith  have  wrought  righteousness, 
obtained  promises,  out  of  weakness  have 
been  made  strong;  and  have  waxed  valiant 
in  the  fight.” 


“VALIANT  IN  THE  FIGHT” 

For  55  years 
In  Shantung,  China 

The  year  1917  marks  the  fifty-fifth  anniversary  of 
the  work  of  the  Rev.  Hunter  Corbett,  D.  D.,  of  Shan¬ 
tung,  China,  and  the  eighty-second  year  of  his  life. 
He  gives  a  resume  of  the  past  year: 

TOURING  the  last  year  I  have  passed  the 
82nd  milestone  on  life’s  journey  and 
rejoice  that  strength  has  been  given  me  to 
assist  daily  in  teaching  the  twenty-five 
choice  young  men  in  the  Bible  Training 
School  at  Chefoo,  and  also  each  afternoon 
in  preaching  in  the  street  chapel  and  mu¬ 
seum,  where  for  more  than  fifty  years  the 
Gospel  has  been  daily  preached,  scriptures 
sold,  and  tracts  distributed.  The  influence 
of  this  work  has  been  far  reaching  in  many 
inland  towns  and  villages.  The  seed  thus 
sown  has  been  blessed  of  God  in  bringing 
many  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  Jesus 
Christ.  I  have  been  able  also  to  visit  the 
sick  in  Christian  homes  and  help  in  pas¬ 
toral  work. 

Four  men  of  much  promise  have  com¬ 
pleted  the  three  years’  course  of  study  in 
the  Bible  Training  School.  We  are  daily 
praying  that  funds  may  be  sent  to  enable 
these  men  to  give  their  entire  time  to 
preaching  in  the  interior  where  the  need  is 
great  and  many  are  glad  to  hear  the  Gos¬ 
pel.  Ten  or  more  young  men  have  been 
recommended  as  suitable  candidates  for 
this  school.  Unless  special  funds  are  se¬ 
cured,  the  low  rate  of  exchange  and  the 
high  prices  caused  by  the  war  will  make  it 
impossible,  for  the  present,  to  receive  them. 

The  past  year  320  new  members  have 
been  added  to  the  Chefoo  and  Teng  Chow 
churches. 

The  Mission  Year  Book  for  1917  states 
that  the  Christian  community  in  China  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  ten  years  has  increased  from 
178,926  to  330,926  church  members;  20,460 

9 


are  given  as  the  total  number  of  Chinese 
workers  at  present  employed  in  connection 
with  the  evangelistic,  educational  and  med¬ 
ical  work;  of  this  number  745  are  ordained 
pastors. 

Reports  from  miany  centers  show  that  in 
spite  of  epidemics,  famines,  and  revolutions 
there  has  been  a  real  forward  movement 
and  marked  friendliness  on  the  part  of  all 
classes.  Many  of  the  more  thoughtful  and 
lovers  of  peace,  seem  to  question  whether 
the  Christian  religion  is  not  China’s  hope. 

The  year  1917  will  be  remembered  in 
Chinese  history  as  the  one,  which  after  75 
years  ended  the  opium  trade.  This  national 
evil  has  brought  poverty,  suffering,  and 
early  death  to  multitudes.  Surely  China 
deserves  all  praise  for  the  heroic  and  per¬ 
severing  effort  made  to  end  the  importa¬ 
tion,  planting,  and  sale  of  opium.  The 
Government  refused  an  offer  of  nearly 
Mex.  $13,000,000  for  the  continuation  of  the 
opium  trade  for  nine  months. 

It  is  said  that  during  the  year  1916  more 
than  14  tons  of  morphine  were  imported 
into  China  from  Europe  by  way  of  Japan. 
To  stop  this  new  vice  from  spreading  will 
require  heroic  and  ceaseless  measures. 

One  event  of  more  than  passing  interest 
has  been  the  united  action  of  members  of 
the  Protestant  Churches,  the  Roman  Catho¬ 
lic,  Greek,  Buddhists,  and  Mohammedans, 
all  sending  petitions,  telegrams,  and  letters 
protesting  against  the  effort  made  in  Par¬ 
liament  to  adopt  Confucianism  as  the  state 
religion.  The  President  received  the  dele¬ 
gates  of  the  Society  to  Safeguard  Religious 
Liberty  and  declared  that  Confucianism  is 
not  a  religion  and  cannot  be  made  a  state 
religion.  'He  vigorously  supported  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  religious  liberty. 

One  of  China’s  trials  the  past  year  has 
been  Gen.  Chang  Shun  taking  his  army  to 
Peking  and  attempting  to  restore  the 
Manchu  dynasty.  All  the  members  of  Par¬ 
liament  fled  and  the  President  was  put  under 

10 


restraint.  The  boy  Emperor,  against  his 
will,  was  put  on  the  throne  and  proclama¬ 
tions  issued  in  his  name.  Four  days  later 
Gen.  Chang’s  soldiers  surrendered  to  the 
army  sent  against  them  and  the  General 
fled  for  safety  to  the  Dutch  Legation  where, 
so  far  as  known,  he  still  remains.  Since 
then  China  has  practically  drifted  along 
without  a  proper  government.  The  people 
of  the  South  have  been  trying  to  establish 
an  independent  government.  A  number  of 
military  governors  have  also  declared  inde¬ 
pendence  in  several  places. 

HUNTER  CORBETT,  D.  D., 

Chefoo. 


Following  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Veteran,  though 
fifty  years  behind  him,  is  a  missionary  in  another  part 
of  China,  at  Shanghai,  who  is  starting  his  “fight”  by 
inaugurating  a  fine  bit  of  Social  Service  in  the  Lowrie 
Institute  in  that  city.  He  tells  of  this  as  follows: 

T  AST  Spring  we  had  a  little  bamboo  and 
'  mud  house,  16  x  20  ft.  and  costing  $50 
Mex.  built  on  a  corner  of  the  Christian 
graveyard  a  little  way  from  our  school.  This 
money  was  supplied  by  a  visitor  from  Cali¬ 
fornia.  Just  adjoining  the  cemetery  is  a 
colony  of  poor,  Mandarin-speaking  refu¬ 
gees,  people  who  have  come  here,  some 
each  year,  from  the  famine  regions  further 
north.  Most  of  them  live  in  old  boats  with 
a  bamboo  cover  over  them  like  ‘‘prairie 
schooners,”  the  boats  being  either  taken  out 
on  land  or  laid  up  along  the  bank  of  the 
canal  in  the  mud,  below  the  shore  level, 
and  tied  to  stakes  so  as  not  to  be  carried 
off  by  the  high  tide.  These  boats  are 
about  20  ft.  long  and  6  ft.  wide,  and  the 
cover  is  just  barely  high  enough  in  the 
center  to  allow  an  adult  to  stand  erect. 
Many  of  them  house  a  family  of  six,  all 
cooking,  eating  and  sleeping  being  done  in 
this  space,  and  all  of  the  family  chattels, 
not  very  numerous,  being  kept  there.  Other 
families  live  in  huts  about  8  by  10  ft.  in 

11 


size,  made  of  bamboo  frames  covered  with 
straw  mats. 

There  are  about  200  people  living  this 
way  within  100  yards  of  our  mission  prem¬ 
ises.  A  few  of  the  men  can  read  a  little, 
none  of  the  women  and  children.  The  men 
are  off  a  large  part  of  the  time  pulling 
rickshas  and  doing  other  menial  work, 
while  the  women  attend  to  household  duties, 
and  the  children  who  are  old  enough  to 
walk  run  wild.  Many  of  these  during  the 
winter  spend  most  of  the  day-time  getting 
old  wood,  sticks  and  straw  to  burn  in  the 
mud  cook-stoves.  Rice-straw  boats  from 
the  country  are  coming  in  with  every  high 
tide  and  unloading  this  fuel  (with  which 
most  of  the  Chinese  do  their  cooking)  on 
the  canal  banks  near  by,  and  the  little 
urchins,  boys  and  girls  alike,  are  there  in 
droves  with  their  brooms  and  baskets,  after 
the  fragments. 

We  have  been  trying  to  teach  these  little 
chaps.  Every  night  for  a  month  three  or 
four  boys  have  gone  over  from  our  school, 
and  with  the  aid  of  blackboard  and  leaf¬ 
lets,  with  a  few  characters  on  them,  taught 
them.  Old  and  young  come  at  the  call  of 
the  bell.  Some  nights  one  of  the  school 
boys  plays  the  cornet,  and  another  gives  an 
illustrated  Christian  talk.  As  the  cold 
weather  comes  on  the  attendance  dwindles, 
for  the  children  have  very  little  clothing 
and  snuggle  into  bed  as  soon  as  possible. 
You  can  imagine  how  dirty  and  ragged  they 
are.  But  many  are  beautiful  and  affection¬ 
ate.  and  have  excellent  voices. 

These  poor,  ignorant  people  are  full  of 
orejudice  and  superstition,  sometimes  fear¬ 
ing  the  foreigners  will  “hoodoo”  them  or  do 
them  dire  harm.  But  we  will  win  their 
confidence  in  time.  One  of  our  big  school 
boys  also  goes  over  and  teaches  whoever 
will  come  for  an  hour  or  so  in  the  day¬ 
time.  Several  little  chaps  have  learned  a 
good  many  characters.  A  very  honest, 
finely  featured,  intelligent  young  man,  a 

12 


ricksha  puller,  has  learned  to  read  several 
pag'es  of  a  Christian  book.  His  work  is 
irregular,  sometimes  day,  sometimes  night, 
but  he  is  eager  to  learn  and  comes  when 
he  can,  sometimes  with  his  baby  in  his  arms. 

There  are  thousands  of  these  poor  people 
along  the  canals  within  a  mile  of  us  and 
very  little  is  being  done  for  their  uplift. 
Their  dialect,  very  different  from  the  local 
one,  is  a  great  barrier,  though  in  time  the 
men  and  children  pick  up  the  local  dialect-. 
The  women  tied  down  at  home,  never  do. 
It  is  our  hope  to  stir  up  a  spirit  of  help¬ 
fulness  in  our  boys,  as  they  teach  these 
poor  people. 

R.  P  MONTGOMERY, 

Shanghai. 


“THROUGH  FAITH  OBTAINING 
PROMISES” 

The  missionaries  in  Brazil  are  intensely  itinerant. 
In  the  faraway  places  reached  on  mule-back  where  the 
missionary  sleeps  in  an  open  shed,  built  by  a  “man 
who  lives  by  the  side  of  the  road,”  believers  are  found 
who  are  letting  their  light  shine  in  the  midst  of  an 
unbelieving  community.  We  give  two  incidents: 

"THE  first  man  to  take  his  stand  for  Christ 
in  the  Carinhanha  district  after  our  ar¬ 
rival  was  Juvencio  Ferreira.  He  was  pretty 
near  the  Kingdom  when  I  first  met  him. 

One  day  a  man  came  to  Juvencio,  ask¬ 
ing  him  to  find  out  on  what  day  some  cer¬ 
tain  festa  fell,  and  bringing  with  him  what 
he  thought  was  an  almanac.  It  was  a  New 
Testament,  and  Juvencio  became  so  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  book  that  he  offered  to  buy  it 
at  nearly  ten  times  its  cost  price,  but  this 
made  the  man  anxious  to  keep  it.  Juvencio 
wrote  to  Bahia  to  a  cousin  who  was  study¬ 
ing  for  the  priesthood,  to  buy  him  a  New 
Testament,  but  the  book  never  appeared. 
Finally,  while  visiting  at  a  relative’s,  he 
found  one  and  was  permitted  to  take  it 
with  him.  He  studied  the  book  as  few 
men  ever  did  in  their  unregenerate  days, 

13 


and  finally  got  a  Bible.  He  had  never 
heard  a  preacher  nor  been  present  at  an 
evangelical  nueeting,  and  was  rather  startled 
when  my  predecessor  visited  him  and  asked 
leave  to  hold  a  little  service.  This  was 
readily  granted  and  was  a  great  help  to 
Juvencio.  I  arrived  some  months  after, 
found  an  open  door  and  some  persons  in¬ 
terested  in  the  book  that  he  read  persist¬ 
ently.  The  change  in  his  life  was  remark¬ 
able,  and  did  more  than  his  reading  to  in¬ 
fluence  others,  especially  his  wife,  who  had 
led  a  wretched  life  because  of  his  immo-  „ 
rality.  A  real  work  sprang  up  in  a  short 
time  and  about  a  dozen  took  their  stand 
for  Christ. 

Juvencio  is  a  tither  and  has  helped  out 
the  work  liberally  in  that  district.  He  has 
not  been  free  from  trials,  and  twice  the 
missionary  has  had  to  help  him  over  tight 
places.  On  one  occasion  his  eldest  boy  was 
very  ill  and  the  treatment  cost  nearly  $200; 
he  lacked  some  $50  and  was  about  to  bor¬ 
row  at  ruinous  interest  (24  per  cent,  is  quite 
common  in  the  interior),  so  I  obliged  him 
to  take  the  money  without  any  interest. 
In  a  short  time  he  brought  me  the  money 
and  obliged  me  to  accept  a  beautiful  little 
horse  as  a  token  of  gratitude. 

When  we  arrived  from  the  States  in  1915 
we  found  him  at  death’s  door,  in  fact  heard 
rumors  of  his  death  before  we  reached 
Carinhanha,  and  we  were  much  exercised 
in  prayer  about  him.  We  found  him  very 
low  and  utterly  unable  to  sleep.  He  was 
worrying  about  a  debt  of  a  trifle  over  $50, 
for  although  he  had  over  30  head  of  cattle 
in  a  distant  pasture,  he  had  no  ready  money 
to  pay  doctor’s  and  other  bills.  As  a  mis¬ 
sionary  has  to  be  ready  for  anything,  I 
told  him  I  would  buy  enough  head  of  cat¬ 
tle  to  pay  his  bills,  and  I  became  the  happy 
owner  of  nine  head  of  cattle  and  paid  all  his 
bills;  and  the  good  man  got  to  sleep.  It 
was  the  turning  point  in  the  disease  and 
he  began  to  rally  almost  from  that  hour. 

14 


Months  afterwards  he  came  over  to  Caetete 
and  begged  me  to  sell  him  back  his  cattle. 
I  was  quite  ready,  as  I  had  never  even 
seen  them  nor  taken  them  from  his  pas¬ 
ture.  He  paid  me  back  in  dollars  what  they 
had  cost  me,  even  though  it  took  25  per 
cent,  more  in  native  currency  to  do  so, 
owing*  to  a  fluctuation  in  the  exchange.  In 
order  to  educate  his  family  he  has  sold 
of¥  part  of  his  land  and  moved  into  Carin- 
hanha  itself,  where  we  have  a  small  evan¬ 
gelical  school,  taught  by  a  girl  who  was 
educated  in  our  Caetete  school.  His  pres¬ 
ence  in  Carinhanha  has  helped  on  the  work 
there,  and  a  preaching  hall  has  been  bought, 
where  regular  services  and  Sunday  School 
are  held. 

H.  J.  McCALL, 
Bahia. 


From  war-troubled  Persia  with  its  change  of  rulers 
from  time  to  time,  the  incoming  and  outgoing  of 
troops  and  the  whole  unsettled  conditions  of  affairs, 
come  promises  that  the  Lord’s  work  is  going  on.  We 
give  a  story  of  the  conditions  at  Kermanshah,  written 
last  September  but  not  received  at  the  Board  rooms 
until  the  last  of  March. 

After  the  Annual  Meeting  I  took  one  of 
our  Loorish  girls  on  a  five-day  trip  to 
some  of  the  Mahidasht  villages.  Great 
changes  have  taken  place  since  we  first 
began  tramping  this  field. 

T'HE  tribes  are  in  their  usual  unsettled 
condition  aggravated  by  hard  times. 
Scantiness  of  rain  last  spring  and  the  pre¬ 
ceding  autumn  while  decreasing  the  supply 
of  grain,  still  left  enough  of  a  harvest  for 
the  ordinary  supply  of  the  country,  and 
probably  also  for  the  Russian  forces  here, 
but  large  quantities  were  taken  out  by 
stealth  to  the  Turkish  army,  leaving  a  great 
shortage  and  adding  to  the  already  high 
prices  of  war  time.  Many  of  the  tribesmen 
were  playing  at  war  last  year  and  left  their 
fields  uncultivated.  Now,  they  are  filling 

15 


their  empty  storehouses  by  looting  their 
neighbors. 

Some  of  the  neighboring  chiefs  are  prose¬ 
cuting  a  feud  which  has  been  on  for  four 
years  and  blazes  up  afresh  on  the  slightest 
occasion.  Other  chiefs  are  robbing  the  vil¬ 
lages  of  their  own  people,  as  well  as  of 
their  neighbors,  and  still  others  are  gath¬ 
ering  up  all  the  wheat  and  barley  that  the 
Mahidasht  villagers  have  saved  for  their 
fall  sowing  and  winter  food. 

Beggars  abound  everywhere  and  the  poor 
are  giving  away  their  children  because  they 
have  nothing  with  which  to  feed  them 
through  the  winter.  The  worst  of  it  is 
that  there  is  little  hope  of  anything  better 
next  year  because  the  villagers,  discouraged, 
by  the  unsettledness  of  the  country,  are 
leaving  their  fields  unsown,  and  coming  into 
the  city  for  greater  safety.  If  it  were  only 
the  scarcity  and  expensiveness  of  food  that 
had  to  be  dealt  with,  it  would  be  hard 
enough,  but  quantities  of  white  earth  are 
being  hauled  to  the  bakeries  to  be  mixed 
with  the  Hour  and  even  with  this  added 
weight  it  is  impossible  to  get  full  weight. 

BUT  amid  all  this  discontent  and  hope¬ 
lessness  the  work  of  our  Lord  is  going  on. 
Tust  before  we  went  to  Teheran,  Mr.  Stead 
baptized  a  strapping  big  Loor*  who  came 
back  with  me  from  Mali’s  country  on  that 
errand.  A  few  days  later  I  operated  on 
another  fine  specimen  of  the  Boorish*  race, 
and  he  was  for  two  and  a  half  months  in 
the  hospital.  When  we  went  away  he  took 
with  him  a  New  Testament  and  a  Catechism, 
saying  that  after  what  he  had  seen  and 
heard  there,  there  was  nothing  for  him  to 
do  but  be  a  Christian.  With  two  such  men 
coming  out,  into  the  light,  the  one  in  the 
Vali’s  country,  and  the  other  in  Nazr  Khan’s 
territory  we  feel  that  the  morning  light  is 
breaking  over  there. 

In  former  years  we  have  had  to  go  around 


*  Note — The  Loors  are  a  LTill  tribe. 


among  the  villages  as  strangers  and  the 
people  gathered  to  see  us  as  they  would  to 
see  a  menagerie.  We  were  happy  then 
when  one  or  two  showed  some  sign  of  in¬ 
telligent  interest  or  came  for  a  private  con¬ 
versation.  That  state  of  affairs  has  passed, 
and  we  feel  acquainted  all  over  our  field. 
The  village  owners  call  upon  us  and  invite 
us  to  come  to  their  villages,  and  when  we 
go  we  are  received  in  the  most  friendly 
manner. 

One  of  the  Kalhoor  chiefs  when  in  the 
city  last  year,  during  the  Turkish  occupa¬ 
tion,  called  frequently,  coming  usually  at 
the  hour  of  sunset  service,  Sunday  after¬ 
noon.  When  he  left  the  city  he  handed  me 
four  Turkish  Liras  (about  $20  gold)  to  be 
used  for  shoes  or  extras  for  our  children. 

One  of  the  evangelists  has  recently 
brought  word  to  Mr.  Stead,  that  a  chief 
whose  tribe  is  at  present  fighting  the  Rus¬ 
sians  waxits  him  to  visit  his  village,  that 
although  they  are  robbers  and  loot-  other 
people  he  need  not  Le  afraid  to  come  or 
to  send  his  messengers  to  them.  It  does 
not  seem  advisable  yet  to  go,  but  we  are 
longing  for  this  terrible  war  to  end  so  that 
we  can  go  about  freely  without  being  sus¬ 
pected  by  the  tribes  or  the  allies  of  having 
political  designs. 

One  of  the  pleasant  features  of  our  work 
has  been  a  free  and  easy  song  service  with 
the  Australian  soldiers  connected  with  the 
Anzac  Wireless  outfit  loaned  by  the  Brit¬ 
ish  in  Mesopotamia  to  the  Russians  here. 
We  invited  them  to  spend  their  Sunday 
evenings  with  us,  after  supper,  and  now 
Protestants  and  Catholic  alike  come.  Every 
one  has  his  favorite  hymn.  When  tired  of 
singing  Mr.  Stead  gives  them  a  short  Gos¬ 
pel  talk  and  the  evening  closes  with  tea  and 
cake,  finishing  with  “God  Save  the  King,” 
or  “Mv  Country  Mis  of  Thee.”  or  “God  Be 
With  You  Till  We  Meet  Again.” 

(Mrs.  F.  M.)  BLANCHE  W.  STEAD. 

Kermanshah. 


17 


“OUT  OF  WEAKNESS  MADE 
STRONG” 

A  Record  of  50  Years 

“True  Light  Seminary”  at  Canton,  China,  was  es¬ 
tablished  in  1872,  and  was  one  of  the  first  special 
objects  taken  by  the  Woman’s  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  Philadelphia.  It  was  started  by  Miss  Har¬ 
riet  V.  Noyes  who  went  to  the  field  in  1868,  in  the 
day  of  small  things,  when  it  was  hard  uphill  work  to 
get  the  parents  to  consent  to  allow  their  girls  to  be 
educated.  From  then  to  now,  the  seed  sown  in  weak¬ 
ness  has  become  a  mighty  tree.  A  co-laborer  of  Miss 
Noyes,  and  who  has  herself  been  on  the  field  for 
thirty-seven  years  sends  an  account  of  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  in  1918  of  Miss  Noyes’  arrival  in  China. 

'THE  Chinese  looked  forward  to  the  anni- 
versary  for  months  before  the  time.  I 
was  constantly  besieged  to  tell  them  what 
was  precious  enough  to  give  to  their  dear 
Miss  Noyes.  When  told  that  she  would  not 
wish  them  to  spend  so  much  money  for 
her,  they  said,  “Oh,  we  must,  the  only  diffi¬ 
culty  is  to  find  things  appropriate  and  good 
enough  for  her.  You  must  help  us.”  Never 
have  I  witnessed  greater  enthusiasm  over 
anything  than  was  manifested  in  their 
preparations  to  do  honor  to  their  beloved 
Miss  Noyes.  They  took  possession  of  our 
lower  rooms  and  soon  they  were  trans¬ 
formed  into  apartments  suitable  for  the  use 
of  an  Egyptian  princess.  They  were  filled 
with  lovely  cut  flowers,  chrysanthemums 
and  roses  being  in  evidence.  The  walls 
were  covered  with  red  and  gold  banners 
on  which  were  embossed  felicitous  inscrip¬ 
tions  and  the  names  of  the  donors. 

On  the  floor  and  leaning  against  the 
walls  were  beautiful  panels  incased  in  inlaid 
pearl  frames.  The  table  and  piano  were 
covered  with  costly  gifts.  Conspicuous 
among  them  were  brass  trays  and  bowls, 
silverware,  embroideries,  and  bric-a-brac. 
In  a  neat  little  case  was  a  medal  from 
Governor  Chue,  sent  from  Peking.  When 
he  was  in  Canton  last  year  he  visited  True 
Light  and  presented  to  Miss  Noyes  a  large 

18 


panel  on  which  he  wrote  with  his  own 
hand,  “Miss  Noyes  is  the  Pan  Koo  from 
beyond  the  seas  who  came  to  China  to  up¬ 
lift  her  daughters.”  Pan  Koo  was  a  famous 
woman  of  China  who  did  much  for  the 
women  of  her  own  country. 

The  scholars  wished  to  give  Miss  Noyes 
a  dress  worthy  of  the  occasion.  They  pur¬ 
chased  a  beautiful  gray  flowered  satin  with 
a  faint  tinge  of  green.  Some  of  the  former 
pupils  said,  “She  must  have  a  long  fur 
coat  to  protect  her  from  adverse  winds, 
also  an  umbrella  to  ward  off  rains  and  too 
much  of  the  sun,  and  a  camphor  wood 

chest  to  pack  away  things  from  moths.” 
The  very  best  of  these  things  were  pre¬ 
sented  to  her.  A  tailor  was  employed  to 

make  the  dress  and  coat,  and  when  they 
saw  her  arrayed  in  them  on  the  days  of  the 
celebration,  their  eyes  glowed  with  satis¬ 
faction.  Miss  Noyes  has  given  her  life  to 
the  Chinese  women  and  girls.  She  has 
never  spared  herself.  She  is  worthy  of 
their  love  and  gratitude,  and  I  was  glad  to 
•see  them  pour  it  out  upon  her  without 

stint. 

Letters  were  sent  out  to  as  many  of  the 
pupils  of  former  j^ears  as  could  be  reached, 
inviting  them  to  return  for  the  celebration. 
One  floor  of  the  True  Light  building  was 
set  aside  for  their  accommodation.  It  was 
truly  inspiring  to  see  their  faces  once  more, 
although  no  longer  young  and  girlish,  but 
bearing  the  marks  of  deep  experiences  along 
life’s  journey. 

Monday,  January  14,  1918,  the  day  Miss 
Noyes  arrived  in  Canton  fifty  years  ago, 
a  great  meeting  in  her  honor  was  held  in 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Canton. 
The  auditorium  was  beautifully  decorated 
with  flowers,  flags,  and  banners.  On  the 
rostrum  Miss  Noyes  sat  between  represen¬ 
tatives  of  the  Chinese  Government  and  U.  S. 
Consul  Heintzleman.  Speeches  from  these 
gentlemen  were  interpreted  by  Rev.  James 
McClure  Henry.  Mrs.  Law,  who  came  to 

19 


the  school  in  its  infancy  and  has  been  con¬ 
nected  with  it  as  scholar  and  teacher  ever 
since,  gave  a  historical  sketch  of  its  growth 
from  year  to  year.  Rev.  William  Dean 
Noyes  was  on  the  program  for  an  address, 
but  unfortunately  was  detained  at  home  by 
sickness.  Many  letters  of  congratulation 
were  sent  in  and  read  to  the  audience. 
Miss  Noyes  responded  in  her  happy  easy 
way. 

In  the  evening  the  grounds  in  front  of 
our  dwelling  were  packed  with  people  to 
witness  a  play  given  by  the  students,  to 
represent  the  changes  in  the  five  decades. 
It  was  greatly  appreciated.  It  seemed  won¬ 
derful  to  me  when  I  remembered  that 
scarcely  twenty  years  ago  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  induce  a  girl  to  speak  above 
a  whisper,  and  in  a  dialogue  they  were 
stiff  and  unnatural.  In  this  short  time  they 
have  acquired  ease,  grace,  and  resourceful¬ 
ness.  The  evening  closed  with  beautiful 
fireworks.  In  one  piece,  a  star,  Miss  Noyes’ 
face  appeared. 

At  2  P.  M.  on  the  second  day  the  large 
assembly  hall  was  packed  with  students  and 
guests.  On  the  rostrum,  sitting  at  Miss 
Noyes’  right  and  left,  were  representatives 
from  all  the  Christian  schools  in  Canton. 
The  exercises  consisted  of  speeches,  songs, 
and  music  discoursed  by  the  band.  One 
very  beautiful  song  was  one  the  alumnae 
sung  to  Miss  Noyes.  I  have  not  the  trans¬ 
lation  here,  but  the  last  lines  were,  “Hur¬ 
rah,  hurrah,  we  are  True  Light  scholars! 
Miss  Noyes!  Miss  Noyes!”  One  woman  in 
the  audience  was  found  to  be  one  of  the 
first  four  pupils  who  came  to  the  school. 
There  was  also  one  of  the  second  year’s 
pupils  present.  These  two  were  brought 
forward  to  the  rostrum  amid  deafening 
applause. 

From  the  second  story  verandas  we 
watched  a  fine  calisthenic  drill.  The  girls 
formed  the  figures  1868,  the  year  of  Miss 


20 


Noyes’  arrival  in  Canton,  and  1918,  the 
present  year.  Standing  in  line  they  sang: 

■‘1868  that  was  the  year  she  came, 

1918  she’s  working  just  the  same. 

Half  a  hundred  years  has  given  her  fame. 
Oh,  who  is  she,  and  who  is  she? 

Miss  Noyes  is  her  name.” 

Keeping  in  step  they  went  through  the 
motions  of  sowing  the  seed,  watering  it, 
harvesting  it,  and  gathering  it.  This  was 
intended  to  be  symbolic  of  what  Miss 
Noyes  had  done.  They  marched  off  the 
grounds  to  the  music  of  the  band  in  five 
rows.  Each  girl  produced  a  square  piece 
of  paper  which  she  carried  over  her  head. 
The  first  row  was  red,  the  second  yellow, 
the  third  blue,  the  fourth  white,  and  the 
fifth  black.  Thus  was  formed  the  Chinese 
national  flag. 

As  we  watched  them  we  recalled  the 
time,  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  when  we 
introduced  calisthenics  into  the  school. 
What  hard  uphill  work  it  was.  At  first  the 
scholars  refused  to  take  them,  and  their 
parents  said  they  were  afraid  it  would 
loosen  their  bones.  So  we  bided  our  time 
until  commonsense  came  to  our  rescue,  and 
now  behold  the  fruit  of  our  labor. 

This  sketch  would  not  be  complete  if  I 
failed  to  speak  of  the  banquet  given  to 
Miss  Noyes  by  the  Presbyterian  Mission* 
Tuesday  evening,  January  8th.  The  table 
was  laid  in  the  form  of  H  N  and  beauti¬ 
fully  decorated  with  roses  and  lighted  with 
candles  only.  The  missionaries  longest  on 
the  field  were  placed  nearest  Miss  Noyes. 
These  were  taken  in  first  and  stood  at  their 
places  while  the  others  marched  in  to  music 
and  sat  where  they  happened  to  be  when 
the  music  ceased.  In  front  of  Miss  Noyes 
was  a  very  large  cake  ornamented  with 

*  The  Mission  was  in  session  for  its  An¬ 
nual  Meeting. 


21 


flowers  and  fifty  candles.  Rev.  James  Mc¬ 
Clure  Henry  was  toastmaster.  There  were 
some  good  stunts  as  the  evening  progressed 
and  all  united  in  pronouncing  the  banquet 
a  grand  success. 

At  the  close  of  our  Mission  Meeting. 
January  17th  (it  had  been  suspended  two 
days  for  Miss  Noyes’  anniversary),  Rev. 
James  McClure  Henry,  the  Chairman,  rose 
and  said:  “You  will  all,  I  know,  unite  with 
me  in  giving  honor  to  the  first  lady  of  the 
land  (applause),  and  wish  to  show  your 
appreciation  of  her  many  years  of  faithful 
service.”  He  then,  on  behalf  of  the  Mis¬ 
sion,  presented  to  her  a  beautiful  long  silk 
quilted  robe  and  expressed  the  hope  that 
its  warmth  and  comfort  might  often  remind 
her  of  the  warmth  of  their  affection  for  her. 

ELECTA  M.  BUTLER, 

Canton. 


22 


The  Officers  of  the  Board  Are: 


PRESIDENT 

1903  Rev.  George  Alexander,  D.  D. 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

1914  Mr.  D.  W.  McWilliams. 

SECRETARIES 

1891  Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer. 

1895  Rev.  Arthur  J.  Brown,  D.D. 

1899  Rev.  A.  Woodruff  Halsey,  D.D. 

1907  *Rev.  Stanley  White,  D.D. 

*Also  Recording  Secretary. 

treasurer 

1906  Mr.  Dwight  H.  Day. 

ASSISTANT  TREASURER 

1910  Mr.  Russell  Carter. 

ASSISTANT  SECRETARIES 

1913  Rev.  Orville  Reed,  Ph.D. 

1913  Rev.  William  P.  Schell. 

1913  Rev.  George  T.  Scott. 

DISTRICT  SECRETARIES 

1906  Rev.  Chas.  E.  Bradt,  D.D.  (Central) 

1907  Mr.  J.  M.  Patterson.  (Southern) 

1909  Rev.  Ernest  F.  Hall,  D.  D.  (Western) 
1916  Mr.  PIerbert  K.  Caskey, 

Field  Secretary  (Campaign  work) 

EDUCATIONAL  ADVISER 

1902  T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  Ph.D.  (Hon.) 

EDUCATIONAL  SECRETARY 

1904  XMr.  B.  Carter  Millikin. 

SUNDAY  SCHOOL  SECRETARY 

1907  Rev.  George  H.  Trull. 

MEDICAL  ADVISER 

1906  *David  Bovaird,  M.D.  (Hon.) 

ASSOCIATE  MEDICAL  ADVISER 

1914  Allen  O.  Whipple,  M.D.  (Hon.) 

*  In  War  Service — Dr.  Bovaird  has  charge  of  a 
Base  Hospital  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

t  In  War  Service — Mr.  Millikin  has  been  granted 
leave  of  absence  for  a  year  to  labor  with  the  Red 
Cross  Palestine  Rehabilitation  Expedition. 


May,  1918 


Form  2605 


